Replies

1. 
   Guest_ | Sep 28, 1999 09:05pm | #1

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   Hello Gary,

   First of all, nothing, and I do mean nothing beats experience. All the software in the world won't help you be accurate. They only offer guidelines to follow, and you will find that some of their listings are way off. The remodeling business is quite different than the new construction business. You can make your own charts for new construction, and they will be quite accurate. However, you cannot just make up a quick chart for remodeling. Each situation is different, and each job will require experience in estimating in order to be accurate.

   That said, I use a product called "CD Estimator" from the Craftsman publishing company. It comes with a book to guide you. The book is called "Estimating and Bidding for Builders and Remodelers". Remember, these are only a guide, and are not going to make you exact on every bid. That takes practice, common sense, and experience. No doubt you will underbid a few times, and lose money on a job. If you are intelligent, you will never underbid a like job again. You learn quickly this way, and there is no better teacher.

   The biggest problem I see with estimating software is the fact that they do not really take regional differences into account. What a contractor in New York may charge for a bath tub replacement won't be anywhere near as low as what the going rate in my area would be. You must be aware of going rates and practices in your area in order to remain competetive.

   Good luck, and I hope you can find what you are looking for.

   James DuHamel

   Owner, J & M Home Maintenance Service

1. 
   Guest_ | Sep 29, 1999 08:35pm | #2

   *Gary,I'm a cabinet/furniture maker and general contractor. I can't recommend software dedicated to estimating, because I haven't found one that is truly specific to how I work, my suppliers, or my locality. I do however use a spreadsheet system that I wrote for myself. I found that my biggest mistake was forgetting something, like the commercial estimator I heard of who bid the top and bottom floors but forgot the nine that were in the middle! My spreadsheet helps me remember all the elements of a job, based on how I work.The best part about a spreadsheet is that you can change it as your business and suppliers change. Mine has grown in the past ten or twelve years I've used it. It began as a simple list when I was building boats and I converted it to my cabinet making business about eight years ago. I set it up so I can either change item prices, simply increase the whole by an inflationary amount, or I can change my profit margin for individual jobs. I linked my spreadsheet totals to fields in my word processor's Contract/Proposal document. This way, as I change anything in the spreadsheet, the proposal figures changes identically. If my customer accepts my proposal, it becomes a contract, and I then generate a simple estimate in my Quick Books program, which keeps that program up to date. I don't confuse my client by giving him my Quick Books estimate sheet, since he already has a copy of my spreadsheet estimate and proposal/contract document.If you run Microsoft Excel and Word, I'd be happy to email you a copy to play with. If you have any computer sense, it should be easy.gary

2. 
   Bernie_Bower | Oct 04, 1999 06:43am | #3

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   I'm a medium sized remodeler doing around $500,000 per year and am having good luck with the Home Tec [misspelled I'm sure]. The ccumputer version of it is hard to use but they promis it will be better this year. It is a unit cost system with a very logical break down of tasks. It won't tell you how many 2x4's you need for a job but it will give you a cost for material and a cost for labor to frame a square foot of wall. Some advice is if you get the book and or program from them call them up and find out what labor cost they use for your area then you can convert their $of labor /square foot of wall to hours/square foot of wall.

3. 
   Gary_J._Headlee | Oct 04, 1999 06:43am | #4

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   I am a small General Contractor in Eastern Wash.
   (Omak)...Does anybody out there have a really
   great Estimating program for Remodeling and
   related ventures.
   I havent really tried any yet.
   Looking for sage advice.
   Thank you. G.J.Headlee